PIPITS. 



time for singing, till the weather is somewhat settled. They 

 do not return to the neighbourhood of houses so soon as the 

 redbreasts, so that their song is not so frequently heard in 

 the autumn. 



Another species, the Alpine accentor, grey above, with 

 brown spots, has occurred in England ; but it is comparatively 

 rare. 



PIPITS (AntJius). 



If the natural locality of the birds could be strictly adhered 

 to, the titling would lead to the red-breast and the wren, 

 which are our only sylvan warblers that remain the whole 

 year, and the pipits would follow them, as partaking partly 

 of the characters of the insectivorous birds, and partly of those 

 of the lark ; but there is an interesting race of strangers that 

 come in, partaking of the characters of our resident warblers ; 

 and as these, though strangers when they come to us in the 

 spring, are really native birds, inasmuch as they are hatched 

 in the country, we must alter the arrangement of those birds 

 which are suited to all our seasons, in order to deal as shortly 

 as possible with these most interesting prodigals, which leave 

 us in the autumn, to return to the feast in pur renovated 

 fields and groves in the summer. We shall therefore very 

 briefly notice the pipits. 



Their general characters are more decidedly insectivorous. 

 The bill a little conical at the base, but awl-shaped at the 

 point, with a keel and slight notch on the upper mandible, 

 and much more slender and produced than that of the grami- 

 nivorous birds. The wings are blunt ; the feet well adapted 

 for running, but not having the hind toes and the claws 

 (which are curved) so much produced as the larks, they are 

 not so well fitted for running over long herbage. They nestle 

 on the ground, but sometimes use hair for the lining of their 

 nests, which is seldom, if ever, done by the larks, with which 



Y2 



